Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Amazon Shipping Dilemma

On February 23rd, I ordered some books from Amazon. I had it shipped to work, using the Super Saver free shipping - something I always do.

On the 28th, half the order came in. Not too unusual, sometimes books are in stock in various locations around the country. I just waited for the other part... until March 9th. Normally a shipment arrives promptly, but this was taking a while, so I checked the status - and found the tracking info said the order was delivered on February 26th!

I checked the calendar, and February 26th was a Saturday. One thing about shipping things to work is that I can't receive them on the weekend. So when the tracking info said it was delivered on Saturday, and I in fact never received the package, I thought that for the first time, a shipment was lost.

I wrote up email to Amazon and explained what happened - half my order arrived, and the other half didn't, but the tracking info said it was delivered on a Saturday, which really isn't possible. Amazon was very quick to respond, apologizing, and sent me a replacement, which arrived on Friday March 11th. I was quite impressed with the turnaround on the resolution of my complaint. I looked at the included bill and I was charged $0.00 for the book since it was a replacement for a lost one.

Anyway, just now, the original long lost package arrived. I know it was my original order because the receipt inside says I was charged for the book. Basically, now I have two copies of this book (Frek and the Elixir, by one of my favorite sci-fi authors Rudy Rucker) and am stuck deciding if I should try to return it. After all, I did eventually get the copy I bought, so I didn't need the free replacement.

On the other hand, I waited plenty of time - my original order arrived after the replacement order from Amazon! Plus, the tracking info said the order was delivered to my work address on the weekend.

So, the dilemma is: keep the book or try to send it back? I will probably mail Amazon and tell them it finally arrived, and see what they want me to do.